Confessions of the Studio Journal

Journals...........Love 'em.  Hate 'em.

I love the possibilities I can see when I'm thumbing thru new journals at the office supply store.  Or the great vision I have for a particularly beautiful artsy journal I notice at my local Hobby Lobby.  I've been known to gush with great delight over handfulls of quirky pens/pencils and how they will make my journal the wonder that it should be. 

Here's the catch for me.  While I am 100% comfortable with decorating a journal page with paint, paper, pen, crayons, etc.- it is very difficult for me to write down anything that is negative or discouraging.  Why?  Not really sure.  Just is.

Most of you could pick up a journal of mine and think I must live in a perpetual state of bliss and joy.  Everyone always loves me and treats me like the queen I profess to be. 

That is not entirely true.  I do have many people in my life that love me and treat me well.  But, you know, life happens to everyone on the planet and sometimes life just stinks.  Why is that so hard to write about?

This past weekend was a true train wreck.  Life just crashed into one big messy pile of ....... stuff.  So, off to my journal I went.  Not with a strong desire to chronicle every negative feeling.  I just picked it up to let my mind wander.  This seems to help me find some type of solution to whatever my latest dilemma is for the day.

Here's what came out of those sessions with my studio journal.........................

These path pages may not be completely finished yet.  I do like the simple way the design came out.  Bare.

This page was a little more involved. The crazy looking writing is really just short-hand.  It's an old school way of writing very quickly, as in when professional people had secretaries that they dictated letters, memos, etc. to.  The boss talked and you wrote down what he said in this funny little language.  They probably don't even teach this anymore.  No one else at my house can read it so I can write whatever I want and no one is the wiser.  Being older has it's advantages, no?!?

If any of you are needing permission to set aside your normally sunny personality and journal the yuck out of your system, that's what this Queen Mum is giving you. 

Permission granted to figure out a way to journal the saddest, darkest parts in a way that gets it out there without damaging people.  Pour it out for the purpose of getting rid of the negativity.

Write it out.  Draw about it.  Gesso over the whole mess.  Black it out with stamping.  Tear it out and burn it.  Crumple it up and throw the whole page away.

Just don't keep it inside of you where it will really turn into a mess.

Then you can get back to keeping on the "Sunny Side of Life".  Here's to smiling again!

Summer, Arts & Etsy Shop Announcement

Summer is Around The Corner (ATC)!!

That may not mean much to some people but this family gets excited about summer!  Summer for us means that all-things-creative get the bulk of our attention and "schooling" gets to take a rest for a while.  This Queen Mum certainly looks forward to a much less scheduled day.  The royal kiddos look forward to swimming, crafting, swimming, eating, swimming, watching movies, etc. You get it!

These last few weeks have been filled with exciting progress.

I finally opened my Etsy shop, etsy.com/shop/QueenMumsLace.

 *wild clapping, confetting falling, woo - hoo!!!*

Here are some samples of the items I am currently offering.

 Two Hearts, Too Cute     $15.00

STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER   $15.00

These sweet little crocheted bracelet cuffs all started when I was playing around with my needle and cream thread one evening while the television was on.  I made myself a cuff, wore it and loved it!  Loved how it looked and how it felt on my arm.  So darn cute!

That first cuff led to another cuff and then another.  Before I knew it, I had worked up 8 different designs.  After I cautiously asked my resident art critics what they thought, it was decided that I could certainly try to sell them at Etsy.com.

Here's another sweet little bit of organized thread.....................

ROCCO CORAL FLORAL LACE NECKLACE       $35.00

Do you or do you not think this is lovely and totally unique?!?!  The ties are a full 20" in length to allow the wearer to either wear it long on the torso or pull it up closer to the neckline.  Versatile.  Beautiful.

Etsy is a market place for all things handmade and vintage.  The gals in our house love to browse the shops.  There is no end to all the creative bits of artistry that come from the hearts of people!

Not to be intimidated by all things tech, I jumped right in and opened up the shop.  Within 24 hours I had my first sale!  WOW!!  That was exciting.

I've learned even more since I've begun.  I love how easy it is to tweak the shop's appearance, move items around, edit content, etc.  Etsy also has a great business support network that keeps the artists informed, educated and plugged into ways to market the products.  It's really VERY generous and very affirming.  I'm having a ball!

So, for those of you who have missed me recently - that's the story.  I've been working hard at learning another new thing.  Creating new jewelry pieces on paper, finding inspiration in multiple places, dreaming up new possibilities.......................

Good thing summer is here!!

I'ld love to hear your comments about my Etsy shop and the things you find there.

I've got a give away up my sleeve.  Stay tuned and you could have your own piece of Queen Mums Lace.

And, Now The Winner Is.......

Since the first of this year I have had the good fortune to win two blog give aways!  Nothing brightens a queen's day like logging in and seeing that the comment she left at one of her favorite sites ended up posting in just the right spot to receive a terrific prize.  WOO HOO!!

My first prize was a gift from Kaari Meng of the French General.

I discovered the work of the French General at an odd old-school place, the public library.  Kaari's book caught my attention while I scanned my favorite artsy/crafty spot because she had used cream and red as the principle colors.

This is a color combo that I am always drawn to - just love the richness of the look.  It's like french vanilla ice cream with ripe juicy red strawberries, yummy.  Her book led me to her blog.  I check her site often in a month.  Her posts are beautiful, inspiring and creative.  Plus, she travels to France each year and uses her blog to document her amazing basement/warehouse finds, terrific food and impossibly beautiful countryside she enjoys while she is traveling there.  It's like a little mini-vacation for her blog readers. *sigh and pass the wine, please*

My prize is pictured below.  She generously included samples of her most recent fabrics purchased for the French General brick and mortar store in Los Angeles, CA.  The fabrics are simply beautiful!  I'm waiting for inspiration to strike but until it does I love to finger these beautiful samples, conjuring up all kinds of possibilities.  I'm leaning toward incorporating bits of these fabrics in a few of my crochet wrist cuffs that I've been selling on Etsy.  Look for that upcoming post.....

 

Please stop by Kaari's little piece of Internet Heaven, frenchgeneral.com .  It's probably the next best thing to a trip to France - no passport required.  Wine, optional.

Hanging Out with Ceily Ann

Today is a simply gorgeous day!  The birds are twitterpating (remember, Bambi?!) and singing up a storm.  The air is moving gently and wraps my shoulders in comforting warm.........simply yummy.  And I'm doing one of my mindless, old timey chores - hanging linens on the line to dry.  What could be better than that?

Every time I hang laundry out to dry, I think of my grandmother.  In her later years, she lived with my mom (her daughter) and she had no need to hang the laundry on the line.  In fact, she probably hadn't hung the laundry out in many years.  Times had changed and everyone had an electric clothes dryer to boast about.  When she passed away many of her things that she had moved to my mother's home were placed in or left in the garage.  The fate of those things were left for another day's decision.  Eventually my mom was able to start the sifting process, doling out pieces here and there as different family members dropped by for a visit.  The conversations were something like this....  "I was going thru Grandma's boxes yesterday and found......   Do you have a use for it?  Or would you like to have this?" 

My standard answer for this type of question is almost always "Yes!".  My husband and I are both the oldest children of our respective homes.  Family history is really important to us.  One particular day I was asked about my Grandmother's clothes pins and the bag that she had rigged up for containing and dispensing them.  At that time, my children were much younger and needier.  The thought of walking outside to hang up anything to dry rather than tossing it into my convenient gas dryer just seemed like too much more work to me.  In spite of that, I responded as usual with a cheery "Yes!". 

But the times did change, the kids grew and I began to see my "chore" time as a time to just check my cares at the back door and let my mind wander while I thoughtlessly worked thru the basket.  That's when I noticed how smooth the clothes pins were - satiny smooth.  I noticed how different, decorative and, even, beautiful the wire mechanisms were.  That's when I realized that these pins were ancient and had probably been doing their service for decades.  What a treasure I had unknowingly accepted! 

So today as I hung those same sheets and towels out to dry, I lovingly thought of my Grandmother Burcham.  Mother of six children, longtime wife to one man, conqueror of The Great Depression Era troubles, baker of countless apple pies, talker of tall tales, silly jokes and a little (or a lot of) gossip here and there, lover of Jesus and His church, tender of the garden and preserver of it's bounty.............  She was a ball of fire wrapped in a 5' frame!  I loved her SO!

My hope is that one day my future grandchildren will remember me as lovingly when they are just living their regular lives, doing their mindless chores and then they...............SMILE.

Queen Peeping Entertainment

Queen peeping!!  I'm not sure why this happens but I can promise you that it happens on a daily basis in our kingdom. In spite it's regular occurrence, I am always taken back a little.  Peeping in on the QM?  How can any of this be so enthralling??

Life in our kingdom is usually buzzing.  People are working at school or chores, listening to music, at the computer, reading yet another book, crafting, or even growing relationships by just chatting.  The quickest way to stop all this productive work is for the Queen Mum to leave the general area of activity.  If no one has her at least in their periphery vision, all work must stop immediately.  The reason for the All Stop is that the Queen Mum is a fascinating individual.  No one wants to miss out on what she might be up to next.  Queen Elizabeth has her followers and this Queen Mum certainly does, too.



The Queen Mum has her own brand of paparazzi sans the cameras.  Every afternoon I retreat back to the royal chambers to tidy things up, make the bed, fold clothes, etc.  My reward for all this activity is to sit quietly for a time reading.  Seated comfortably in my beautiful rocker I relax against its firm back taking my book in hand.  Aah!  Peace.  That's when it usually happens.  That disconcerting feeling that something is not right.  Someone is looking at me.  Or, as could be the case, SomeONES are looking at me.  One or more kingdom dwellers will be perched at my open door just watching.  All they are waiting for is the smile of acknowledgement.  If the smile is granted, they will pass through the open door and perch themselves on the freshly made bed.  They might even be so bold as to lay across the pillows that were laid with great care just minutes before.  "Need anything, dears?"  "No Queen Mum, just watching."  (Hmmmmm.......Note To Self - Add more chores to the lists.)

Just so you know - the Queen Mum is totally hip and has her own MP3 player.  I will use it when I'm doing yard/house work or when I'm working on some art piece.  QM's Favorite Listening - NPR (National Public Radio) or Jazz.  The earbuds will not even be warm in my ears when ......."Queen Mum.....*muffled voices*.....?" Patiently removing these earbuds I will ask in a very polite and queenly way "Pardon me?"   "Queen Mum ....*distinctly understood voices*....?"    Okay, back to..........Not Quite Yet......  HMS will be there, too.  Because he is the king, he doesn't even notice that the Queen Mum has her ears occupied.  He will just ask his question, knowing that I have anticipated his presence and am tuned into his request.  *sigh*  Maybe the Queen Mum should purchase a pair of head phones that are the size of dinner plates. 

Another fascinating work of the Queen Mum is preparing for entertainment outside the royal castle.  HMS is a handsome date!  The Queen Mum would NEVER be caught outside the realm without looking her best for the occasion.  This involves thoughtful preparation.  Princesses are gatherers of information regarding thoughtful preparation. The information they most love to gather involves beauty products and hair styling techniques.  They learn all of this at the School of the Open Door.  You got it!  While I am digging in my bag of beauty, they are all there - mental notebooks in hand.  This is when all of the deep questions of life usually surface from them.  "Why do you think guys............?"  "You know those mean girls who.............?"  "What did she mean when ..............?"  "Do you ever actually wear that green eye shadow?" 

The students at the School of the Open Door are not just princesses.  No. It could just as easily be the Prince Heir discussing the puzzlement that all women are, questions about challenging decisions, observations about sports (depending on the season) and how his truck is running.  Let me tell you!  Queen Mums must be well versed in all forms of information.  United States diplomats have NOTHING on the Queen Mum.  March Madness BBall Teams? check    Five Love Languages? check    Super Bowl Scores? check    Tire Sizes and Ford Truck Payloads? check

Cooking is another form of QME.  Everyone is interested in the results of the kitchen work!  The quickest way to disperse the crowd of gawkers is to start assigning chopping, slicing and dicing jobs.  Everyone loves the Whirlpool Maid but not too many want to empty her shelves.  Too late!  You were snagged while you hesitated to stare at the QME.  Sometimes I have caught the whole group and quietly retreat to the living room while they finish their work.  Now that is some smart Queen Mum thinking!!

THE QUEEN MUM'S PEARL OF THE DAY
"BE AWARE!  QUEEN WATCHERS ARE EVERYWHERE. YOU are their example for everyday queenly living."

When I was a much younger Queen Mum and all the heirs were toddlers I really resented the fact that the atmosphere in our home was determined mostly by how I acted.  If my day was very stressful and I gave into the stress in negative ways it seemed that the whole house slid down the drain with me.  When thankfulness for my life moved out of my heart and into my face in the form of a smile, everyone would respond with smiles of their own.  If I was frantic and disjointed in my day, the toddlers would just ramp up their KIDness in ways that only little children can.  I would try to ignore this glaring fact.  I wanted someone else to be responsible for the aura of the home.  Couldn't I just blame all of the negative on HMS and claim initiation for all the positive?  Unfortunately, NO.   

Thankfully the years have taught me to embrace the reality that I can influence the atmosphere in my home.  If the troops are cranky and quarreling, I can give some Queen Mum recommendations and stay peaceful while they gather themselves.  When HMS has a bout of ManPMS, I can smile sweetly, feed him and then leave him to work it out himself or talk about it.  When it is difficult to convince even myself that I can be peaceful, I try to immerse myself into something creative.  Exercise seems to help, too.  If all else fails naps seem to be just the right answer - for me OR for them.

You might be a queen-in-training, a young Queen Mum with ankles wrapped in small children or even a Queen who has only a king to be considered.  It really doesn't matter what stage of queenness you find yourself, the pearl is still relevant regardless of the situation.  People watch you.  You bring peace or chaos with you as you work throughout your day.  It's really a very powerful place and responsibility.  Real Queens will accept this for the gift that it is..............................    

On Being Brave

On a weekday morning I was going through my typical routine.  A gloriously normal day, I poured myself a large cup of Italian Roast coffee and sat down with the morning newspaper.  I came across an article that caught my attention.  The article was about running.  Not just a little jog around the proverbial block.  The writer is aspiring to run a half marathon - yes, 13 miles of running. Now this Queen Mum is all for exercising the body and the mind!  Running, however, is more like torture and, therefore, avoided at all cost.  Any race with the word "marathon" is most admirable but would be out of the question. 



The writer, by her own admission, is short in stature and out of shape.  She made it a goal to learn how to run and joined a running group.  *QM is admiring all this determination!*  As normal humans might, she was experiencing the inner turmoil of not really being an athlete or a runner.  She felt like an impostor on this day of her first official race of 6.5 miles.  If her other running club members only knew she was a fraud, they would laugh her out of the club.

She was predictably slower than the pack but determined to at least keep them in sight.  It didn't take long to feel the shame of not being able to keep even this small goal.  But she plodded along sometimes just walking rather then running.  Moving toward the goal was more important than doing it perfectly.  The goal was a finish line somewhere in the distance.  All the while she battled the inner voice that repeated to her all her worst fears and short comings.  That day she did finish her first race.  Her running partner was dutifully waiting for her at the finish line, cheering her on to do the one thing that had seemed impossible most of the way - FINISHING! 

Think about YOU for a moment..............not your HMS..........not your children.............not your parents.........not your book club, church, volunteer group..........just YOU.  What one thing are you wanting to do, try or learn that gives you a quivering stomach when you consider it.  Maybe you want to change your occupation, go back to school, take an art class, learn a new language, write a book, film a movie.  You may have it in your heart to start a charity, invent something fabulous, hike the Grand Canyon or climb Mt. Everest.  You may have a terrific business idea just waiting for you to start it all.  I'm talking about the BIG dreams that are lying quietly inside you.  You keep them locked down because that isn't as scary as letting them out where they can be ridiculed.  You won't let them out because they haven't failed if they can't see the light of day.  Somehow it even feels honorable to pretend that the dream doesn't exist.

QM's usually make terrific cheerleaders.  We are all about clapping while YOU run.  Gushing about YOUR latest artistic endeavor.  Being the sounding board for YOUR newest idea.  We are experts at saying, "I believe in you!  You can do it!"  We get comfortable holding our smile and our pompoms while everyone else is on the court sweating.   But there are times when holding the pompoms isn't enough.  You want a shot at playing the game.  You want to give it a try, break a sweat and see if you can make a difference even if it's only a difference that you will appreciate or benefit from.  You KNOW there is this "thing" in you that you were created to do!   The question to ask is are you going to let the "thing" out?



If you were seated at my kitchen table holding your warm cup of coffee, you would hear me say "I believe in you!  You can do it!"  "Let's put some concrete, finish-line goals on a piece of paper and get to work."  Doing nothing gets you more of what you already have.  Are you satisfied with that?  Doing something -anything, even if it is just walking toward a goal is better than just wishing your life away.  If others can, why can't you?  Who ultimately decided that others can succeed while you, only you, will most certainly fail?!?

Here is what our writer had to say, "The only person who thought my goal was out of reach was me."  Everyone else who witnessed her run that day had no idea what kind of discussion she was having with herself as she ran.  They saw a RUNNER not an impostor.  In my QM mind, wanting to run and not running would have made her an impostor.  Pretending to NOT be interested in growing by learning to run would have made her an impostor.   Doing this daring thing made her what she desired to be, a runner.



She finished the article with a single sentence that deserves some quiet reflection - "I'm ready to run now that I've dumped my biggest naysayer:  myself."  (newsok.com  Carrie Coppernall)

 THE QUEEN MUM'S PEARL OF THE DAY

BE BRAVE
 "to encounter with courage and fortitude"

  The only person who can contribute your uniqueness is YOU. 

 Let's sip on that for a while..............................................................

I would love to hear from those of you who know what your dream is.  Follow the prompts to leave a comment.  Your posts will be anonymous. Sometimes the first step is just letting the dream out of the box.  Go ahead!  You can take the first step.  Tell this Queen Mum your dream............................

Blizzards & Cabin Fever - Day FOUR

Once again we have had a significant winter event.  Ten plus inches of snow and sleet,  raging winds (for a time) and wind chills that had a " - " in front of the number,  high temperatures in the single digits......  This is the type of weather that we hear about happening in "other" places of the United States.  Remember?  We're the people who don't get enough practise driving in this kind of craziness!  Well,  at least we're in good company.  I heard this monster storm caught folks as far south as El Paso and after it visited our part of the country continued to work it's way east.  Such is life! Eh?

We've been home with all outside activity suspended, just waiting for the temps to warm up enough to get the worst parts of the ice off the streets.  We've read, crafted, painted, crocheted, etc. to try to keep from getting to cranky in our confinement.  We've laughed, eaten too much, danced with the Wii remotes in our hands and then eaten again.  (So much for the exercise!  lol)

Here are a few pictures of our winter break......................

                                 BACK YARD LOVELIES

The irony of the dial on this old camping oven made me smile.  We keep pinion wood in this little rusted oven.  It works great and is just the right size for the table it sits on in our fireplace area.  The HMS rescued it on a neighborhood big junk day.  Good hunting, HMS!

The back porch usually looks somewhat inviting (if the royal family hasn't piled it up too much).  Today it just looks cold!  Don't you feel sorry for the little angel? 

I loved the contrast in this shot!  I took this yesterday, knowing that the girls would want to be outside and all this pristine snow would be no more........

              Not everyone appreciates the beauty of rust.....but this Queen Mum can see the artistic beauty of it.

As I said, once the temperatures came up enough to keep these tender beauties from windburn and instant frostbite,  they made it outside to play a little.  Glad they took the camera!

Our covered front porch faces the east and has a three foot recess that protects the front door.  The snow drifted onto the porch making a little wall of snow across the recess.  I love how it drifted into and onto the decorations that I had out for the winter season.  Very appropriate, wouldn't you say?

The galvanized florist tin is filled with things that I scavenged from the yard.....Black Eyed Susan & Echinacea Flower Pods,  decorative tall grasses, dried flower heads of a succulent that we call Live Forever (August Sedum) and then, my all time favorite natural to decorate with, Nandina berries and leaves.  It's also called Heavenly Bamboo and does have a bamboo-type structure to the trunk of the bush.  These berry clusters are formed from the flowers, turning bright red, peaking about the time Christmas arrives.  If you can plant Nandina in your area do!  It is easy to grow, can be transplanted with success and makes a brilliant show all year long.  Just simply love this plant!
 

These berries and leaves were harvested in mid-December.  The colors are still vibrant!  Really amazing. 



The latest word is that we will be getting warmer temperatures for the next three days and then, guess what?!?, the possibility for more snow.  We know how tempermental our weather can be (it was actually around 76 degrees the day before the storm arrived.  But this kind of snow is really rare here.  Maybe the folks in our fair city will get the practise they've been lacking and turn into better drivers.........but I won't bet my crown on it.  Stay warm and keep busy....................Spring will eventually come.